Johnny Phillips: There are parallels at Wolves - but this time it’s no lost cause

“This is a decisive step which creates certainty and the players are fully behind us. As a club we now need to unite behind Terry and the players, and secure as many points as possible,” said the chairman.

“Steve understands the culture and standards set at this club and we want to give him and his team clarity on their positions and allow them the best possible opportunity for success,” added the next chairman.

Separated by a decade, two managerial crises at Molineux ended with the same conclusion.

The hammer blow of a knockback from the number one target, the fruitless search for an alternative, before the announcement that supporters feared most.

The parallels go further.

Mick McCarthy should have been replaced ahead of that fateful 2011/12 season, not seven months into it.

Would Wolves now be in the position they find themselves had Bruno Lage been thanked and shown the door at the end of last season?

Who knows, it would have been a bold and brutal call given Lage’s top half finish, and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Where supporters want the parallels to end regards what happens next. Terry Connor had cleared his desk at Compton Park before being ushered back in by Steve Morgan.

He took the managerial reins purely out of duty and never looked comfortable. Connor’s post-match appearances in front of the media were an uncomfortable watch, a decent man dying a slow death in the public glare.

This time it is very different. Davis is impressive in front of the cameras and is clearly relishing the opportunity of working with the first team. It is too early to form any concrete opinions on his, and assistant James Collins’, influence on the pitch. The home win against Nottingham Forest was an appalling game of football; Championship standard with possession turned over at an alarming rate, a tale of two penalties which Wolves just edged.

Against Crystal Palace the performance was much better but there were no points to show for it. Team selection was spot on and Adama Traore’s goal was stunning, probably the best move of the season.

The second half was tricky, though, with the triple substitution disrupting the side and we are unlikely to see that repeated. But it was done with the aim of making a positive impact. Better to win one and lose one, than draw two.

Wolves’ decision to announce that the caretaker status quo will be maintained until 2023 was arguably unnecessary.

Was there really a pressing need to formalise this? Bournemouth have been trundling along quite nicely without putting a time stamp on Gary O’Neil’s interim role.

It may in part have been down to the second knock-back, which came when Mick Beale decided to remain at Loftus Road.

That will have felt like the final straw for the recruitment department after a testing couple of weeks.

Once Julen Lopetegui turned the club down, Shi was true to his word and the search was extended beyond Jorge Mendes’ client roster for the first time since Paul Lambert’s appointment in November 2016.

Beale, Anthony Barry and Rob Edwards were all spoken to as Wolves looked for youth and dynamism. Former Lyon and Ajax head coach Peter Bosz was also a realistic contender but, ultimately, did not satisfy the criteria.

The lack of an “outstanding candidate”, in the chairman’s words, only rings true when followed by “in our price range” or “willing to take the job”.

Outstanding candidates are available if the club wants them badly enough. It will be interesting to observe how swiftlyVilla, in a similar predicament to Wolves in the league, find a replacement for Steven Gerrard.

The forthcoming World Cup break will see the landscape change again, with more changes at home and abroad.

If the right man becomes available, within budget, during the break then Wolves will move for him.

February 2012 was a challenging month for Wolves’ previous owners and matters got a whole lot worse before they improved. Morgan and his chief executive, Jez Moxey, stuck it out as the team slid down two divisions, recovering to find some stability in the Championship before the club was sold to Fosun.

These owners cannot afford to see Wolves slip out of the Premier League but there are concerns that this possibility is on the horizon, and supporters have been rattled.

There is still a significant amount of credit in the bank because Fosun have given Wolves fans their best days in 40 years and their commitment was reinforced with huge summer spending on the team.

That investment, in part, masks the inexperience of an organisation that has just six years’ football industry experience.

Shi has acknowledged that Wolves need to plot a course without Fosun’s handouts, either through investment from external sources or self-generated funds.

The chairman’s long-term future lies away from the football side of the business, as Fosun Sports Group looks to expand Wolves’ reach through new platforms in the gaming world and beyond, which in turn will help generate income for the club’s benefit.

The role of a specific football CEO at Molineux will need fulfilling at some stage, if Wolves are to thrive in tandem with its brand expansion and build on Fosun’s early work.

Avoiding the sort of upheaval we have just witnessed is important for an ownership which requires Premier League visibility, not to mention the supporters who pay good money to watch from the stands.

When it works, the Wolves model has given the team an edge over its rivals but the unique structure has been found wanting by the circumstances of the past three weeks.

It has been a fascinating, if unsatisfactory, period since Lage’s departure.

Wolves are in exactly the same league position as they were when Connor took the reins 10 years ago. That was a lost cause.

This is not, but only by winning football matches will uncertainty be replaced with clarity.